Listen! Can you see something?

The story continues on Theev.

Ready for a night out where some intel may also be gained, the party make their way to The Empress, a bar they had noticed earlier.

The Empress has a modernistic theme; bright lights, mirrors and holos make it an interesting place to eat and be seen. Settling at their table, a moderately good meal is served which comprises dishes that are not unfamiliar. The atmosphere at the table is rather subdued as everyone strains their ears to listen in to other peoples conversation.

Time passes, with the listening only picking up a loud industrialist boasting that he can get anyone anything they want for considerably less that normal people have to pay.

The meal over there is talk about returning to the hotel or continuing. The decision is made to look at some other restaurants, bars and clubs to see if there is anything interesting.

Within a small radius the following places catch the eye:

• Shambles - an old style bar with leather armchairs and old wood furniture with rich patina.
• Shazam - specialising in chemical gastronomy (which seems to equate to odd food in odd containers)
• The Narrow Mission - appears to be a standard no frills bar where spacefarers might find themselves.
• Parlay - a mock pirate bar, with waitresses dressed with eye patches and speaking in supposed pirate accents.
• The Imperial Angel - which specialises in the cuisines of the Third Imperium. Graffiti on walls near this restaurant indicate that not all in wall in the relations with the empire.
• Ace - another straightforward no frills bar. Apparently named for the famous former sportsman owner.
• Blueprint - nearer to the Industrial zone this restaurant has an exposed almost inside out approach to its interior, with exposed beams and machine workings visible.

After some debate the Shambles bar is chosen as the next venue.

Inside the party take up a nice table somewhat near the middle of the room but not in too exposed a position. Drinks are drunk and again the focus is on listening in on the conversations of others. Little success is gained in this until a loud person at the bar raises their voice, demanding of the barkeep "Everyone knows me, I'm Orlan!". The exclamation seems to be in response to not being served a drink due to an inebriated state.

Again the party finish up and this time Lady Nitrane and Silent Unter decide that enough is enough and they return to the hotel. Captain Slaid on the other hand decides that this Orlan chap might be worth at least talking to.

Orlan is a jovial drunk. Slaid, after checking with the barkeep that it would be ok, buys Orlan a drink and they start talking. Orlan works at a fancy office building for someone called Nirgal. The line of business seems mundane - checking on cargo and shipments - but it seems that Orlan has been doing it for some time.

At this juncture Orlan suggests that they head to Ace, which is a bar where he is more at home. Captain Slaid accepts this suggestion and to Ace they head.

Upon arrival the people sitting at the bar shout "Orlan", and it seems that he is well known - at least in some parts. The talk continues but not a lot is forthcoming that seems to be interesting, so Captain Slaid says his farewells and returns to the hotel.

A night passes.

The next morning see the party heading to the ship where Krrsh and Dr Cheese greet them. The plan today is to head to the Lower City and check out some bars there.

Discussing the previous night and the plans for the day, it appears very unlikely that Ferrik will be on Theev. He is too much the wanted man (apparently) to risk being killed on sight. Instead his lieutenant Mira Silverhand is much more likely to be trying to gain access to the pirate lords. All except Admiral Darokyn with whom Ferrik had a terrible falling out.

Secondly, it seems likely that Mira's ship is on the Skull, as Ferrik's ship would be well known, and landing with it would be a dangerous thing for whoever tried it.

Krrsh advises that it would be foolish to head to the lower city unarmoured and unarmed. The party check their gear and find a need to hit the armorer to get more suitable gear. If the armour they buy is second hand then all the better.

Just as they are readying themselves to leave Dr Cheese pipes up that a colleague he was talking to in a bar the previous night let slip that a laboratory ship that he was working on until recently has just experienced a bioweapon accident, with the colleague fleeing to save his life. It would appear, at least to Dr Cheese, that there is a lab ship that only his (guilty) friend knows about, just ripe to the taken over, moved to a better location, and set up as a robotics lab. 

Intrigued, but otherwise distracted by the day head, a number of the party buy improved cloth armour and torso protectors. Some slug pistols are also purchased. The prices are just this side of extortion, but time is of the essence, and who's to say this isn't a good price on Theev where everything is imported.

So the party head to the Lower City.

The first bar they come to, called "bar" (or so it would appear) is a dingy and dirty place, but that's what they came to experience, so they go in. This time they enter singly. Lady Nitrane, done up in workmans gear and carrying a blade, enters first and takes up her place. Captain Slaid enters five minutes later, followed another two later by Unter.

The modus operandii of listening to other people is in full force, but again it seems that either the people here are not up to speed with what's happening to Ferrik, or don't care, or are talking about him using euphemisms, or are just not interested in talking about him. Regardless the party don'e pick anything up at all.

That is until a grubby lady called Vii Lon approaches Captain Slaid at the bar. She is, she says, in desperate need of passage off the planet. She is, she claims, a member of a trade delegation from Torpol but her colleagues were killed in the Lower City. She appears to be entirely genuine, or at least Slaid cannot detect any semblance of insincerity about her. He buys her a drink which she takes as a bottle of water which goes directly into her bag. She then proceeds to start weeping hunched over the bar. Slaid agrees that if he is able to get her passage he will contact her in this bar or one of two others that she has been frequenting.

Lady Nitrane leaves the bar but rather than heading somewhere else finds a vantage point near the entrance to "bar" and waits for Vii to come out. Slaid and Unter head to other bars in the meantime. Eventually Vii comes out and Nitrane talks to her. Again all seems to be genuine: Lady Nitrane checks to see if she's wearing anything that might give away a lie, but they appear to be good clothes that are now very grimy.

While this is happening Slaid goes to the next bar (also called "bar") and Unter heads further up the steet to another ("Bar Bar Bar"). The listening is even more difficult and eventually the entire party returns to the ship.

Luck was not on their side today.

DM NOTES: Because your characters are smarter than you :)

• It appears that the policy of passively listening and hoping to catch something interesting has very long odds of succeeding. Bribery, threats, intimidation or just asking nicely might all have better odds. If nothing else the party might find out who is the best person to listen to.
• Also, some form of mind map might be useful. Vii is from a trade delegation and Orlan works for someone in the same line of business. Perhaps one knows about the other. Also the loud industrialist may be just the person to ask about Transponders. Or not. But without linking pieces of knowledge the linkages will not be picked up on. There are many other clues (in the above text too) that might benefit from mapping out.